Letter 'R'
by RoobinWazlib
Summary: tim sain please dont read this :c
1. Chapter 1: Beginning

I walk down the long hallway of my one bedroom apartment. I open my refrigerator and sigh as I see that I am nearly out of groceries.

I've lived in Japan for almost a year now, right in the outskirts of Tokyo. It is not at all as I expected it to be.

I close the refrigerator door and I begin to undress as I walk back to my room to get some sleep. I pull my shirt off over my head and throw it behind me just as my door opens swiftly and near silently. I spin around and face a man in a long coat with a hat pulled down over his face.

"Leave now, or I'll call the police!" I threaten him as I try to find something that can be used at a weapon.

"I am not here to bring you harm," The man says to me. "I'm here on very important business, if you will please come with me."

I still cannot see his face, but his voice.. it sounds trustworthy, almost familiar. I follow him out of the apartment without even grabbing my shirt.

"Where are you taking me?" I ask the man as we drive down the strangely quite streets of Tokyo.

"You will find out when we get there." The man says to me. I look over at him. "It's very top secret business, I cannot tell you anything about what's going on until I get the 'okay'."

"Well who gives you the okay?" I ask him.

Suddenly the man's phone rings. He puts it on speaker.

"Watari, do you have her with you?" The voice on the other end asks.

"Yes, L." Watari answers. "We are five minutes away."

L.

When I first moved to Tokyo almost a year ago, a huge murder spree had just began. The killer who people jokingly named 'Kira' was killing criminals in ways without direct contact and no one understood anything that was going on. Only one person had the slightest idea, and they called him L.

"I'm going to meet L?" I ask Watari.

"Yes." He says back to me.

"Why?" I ask him again.

"He will talk to you about the circumstances." Watari tells me.

We drive on for another few minutes and then we get out at a large hotel.

"We're here." Watari says to himself. We walk inside and go inside an elevator. I notice that there are cameras everywhere.

"Tight security, huh?" I say to Watari, trying to make the awkwardness between us evaporate a little.

"You have no idea." He says back to me. After going up floors and floors we get out of the elevator and Watari starts down the hallway. I follow after him, then he stops in front of a door and opens it and walks inside.

I walk inside after him.

The room is full of men, a lot of old men. There is a man sitting on the couch that looks as if he's just twenty, which is fine, but the rest of them all look as if they are mid to late twenties, maybe even early thirties.

Watari takes off his hat and coat, he looks as if he's sixty.

"Thank you for bringing her here."

I look across the room and see the shaggy, black hair of someone with his face buried into a computer screen.

"Sit on the couch, please." The man at the computer desk says to me. I nod my head even though he cannot see me do so and I sit down on the couch next to the youngest looking man.

"Hi! I'm Matsuda!" The man says to me.

"You idiot, you're not supposed to tell her your name!" A man with an afro snaps at Matsuda. Matsuda trembles but I smile at him.

"I'm Alice, it's nice to meet you, Matsuda." I say to him. He smiles at me then I hear a chair squeak. I look across the room and see the man who was sitting at the computer stand up. He walks over to the couches, while slouching, and sits across from me, with his legs up against his body.

"You're L?" I say to him.

"Do you know why you're here?" He asks me without assuring my question.

"I left my house half naked, I didn't know I was coming here, so of course I don't know why I am here." I tell him.

Matsuda suddenly passes me his suit coat. I smile at him as I put it on.

"We are working on the Kira case, I'm positive you know that." L says to me.

"Yes, but that still makes no sense of why I am here." I say to him.

"We need brains." L tells me. "Trust me, I would rather not just invite people in, but.. it seems as if.."

"You're talking to the wrong person." I say to him. "I didn't move to Japan for school, I moved here because it's the last place on Earth where my parents would look for me, and because I found a really cheap, secluded apartment to rent."

"I see." L says to me. "So you are of use to me."

"I just told you I'm not smart!" I say to him. "I'm not even in high school, you're an adult. How much use can I be to you?"

"Oh, the ways..." L says to me as he pulls a cupcake from God knows where and starts to lick it. "And although I will be staying here for the investigation, I need a place to stay for a couple of weeks while this place gets worked on."

"What?!" I say to him.

"I knew you'd be charmed." He says back to me.

"No!" I snap at him. "I don't care how important you are to the investigation, you cannot just invite yourself over to my one bedroom home!"

"You wouldn't be interested in sleeping with me?" He says to me as he licks the frosting off of the cupcake.

I can feel my cheeks blush; I don't say anything to him. Matsuda looks at me, all of the men look at me. Suddenly the door opens and a tall boy with brown hair walks in followed by an older looking man.

"Who's she?" The boy asks L.

"My girlfriend." L says to him. The boy looks at me.

"You're name?" He asks me. Absolutely nothing about this boy feels right to me.

"Rowen." I say to him out of nowhere. The name forced itself out… I have no idea why. Matsuda and the others look at me but don't say anything. L smiles at me from across the table.

"What?" The boy asks him.

"Her name." L says to him. "It makes me smile every time I hear it." The boy rolls his eyes and looks back over at me.

"I'm Light." He tells me.

"Nice to meet you." I say to him as I shake his hand. He smiles at me, and leans in and whispers something only I can hear.

"Any day, any time, I'll give you a better ride than he ever will." He lets go of my hand and walks over to the computer desk. I look back at L who finishes shoving the cupcake in his mouth.

"Well, I think I'll go get settled in." L says as he stands up.

"Barefooted?" I ask him. He looks at me.

"Not outside." He tells me. He puts on some running shoes, without socks, and stands up.

"Let's go fool around." He tells me as he walks towards the door.

"I'll.. I'll wash your coat for you, Matsuda." I say as I turn towards him. He smiles at me and nods his head and I follow L out of the room.

"I thought you were into being all secretive, like not going out in public." I say to L as we ride in his all tinted-windows car back to my home.

"This is a special occasion, I'm moving in with my lover." He tells me as he puts a lollypop in his mouth.

"Yeah.." I say to him. "We're illegal."

"Only if you rat." He says to me. I smirk and look out the window.

We get back to my apartment and L stops me before I open the doors.

"Cameras?" He asks me.

"Only if you walk up to the front desk; there are no others." I tell him. He nods his head and we get out of the car, followed by Watari, who is carrying L's belongings. We get up to my room and Watari nods his head and leaves.

"Welcome home, I guess." I say as I open the door. I walk inside and L follows after me, and he sets his bags down and closes the door.

"Do you have any candy?" He asks me. I don't say anything to him. He takes this as my approval to snoop around and he walks into my kitchen and opens the fridge.

"It's empty."

"I know." I tell him. "I need to go to the store."

"I'll call Watari." L says to me. He pulls out a cell phone and pushes one button. "Watari, we need groceries."

"I will bring them by shortly." Watari says back to him. L hangs up and walks into the living room and sits down. I sit across from him and he smiles at me.

"You lied to Light." L says to me. I don't say anything back to him. "You gave him a name that is different from yours. Why?"

"I had a weird feeling about him." I say to him. L smiles at me.

"You are smart." He tells me.

"How?" I ask him.

"Light is my main suspect for being Kira." L tells me. "It was smart of you to not give out your name to someone who might be able to kill you."

I look at him.

"Why hasn't he been arrested?" I ask L.

"The man who walked in with him is his father, the chief of police. Besides, I don't have enough evidence." L tells me. I open my mouth to continue but there is a knock at the door. I walk over and open it and I see Watari surrounded by loads of bags filled with food.

"Thanks." I say to him. He nods his head and helps me bring the food inside.

After we load the food into the fridge Watari leaves and I walk back over to L who is sitting on the couch with his feet on the couch and his legs pressed against his body.

"Thanks for helping." I tell him. He looks at me and smiles.

"Wanna fool around?" He asks me.

"No." I tell him. "I'm going to go take a shower."

"Then I'll shower with you." L says to me as he stands up.

"No you won't." I say to him.

"You're already half naked." He tells me.

"Shut up. I'm going to bed then." I tell him. He runs over to my side.

"Then I'll go to bed with you." He says to me. "You're working on a murder case now, it will be best if I'm with you almost twenty-four seven." I stare at him.

"Fine." I tell him. I take off Matsuda's jacket and grab a long shirt and put it on and I take my pants off and walk over and crawl into my bed. L stands next to the bed and looks at me.

"I'm horny." He tells me.

"I'm thirteen, too bad!" I say to him. "You shouldn't be attracted to me! You've got like twelve years on me!" He smiles and takes off his shirt and I am grateful it's dark and L can't see me blush about his amazing body. He sets his shirt next to my pants and crawls into bed next to me. He snuggles close to me, he isn't smiling.

"What?" I ask him.

"Make me a midnight snack?"

"No!" I say to him. "I just got into bed."

"Fine, then you'll be my snack!" He says to me. He then jumps on top of me and starts kissing my neck. I start to laugh uncontrollably and I manage to pull away from him and grab my pillow and smack him with it. He blows his untidy hair out of his face and grabs me again and holds me close to him as he licks my neck.

"Stop it!" I say to him through laughs. I feel him shake his head and he grabs my stomach under my shirt and flips me around so I'm on top of him.

"Let's have some fun." He tells me.

"This is fun." I say back to him as I pull my face down in my shirt. He pushes his head up through the bottom of it and licks my tummy.

"Come on?" He says to me. His brown eyes start up at me and he smiles.

"No." I tell him. I pull away from him and get out of bed. "I guess I'll be sleeping on the couch tonight." I grab some blankets and walk out of the room and I lie down on the couch and go to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2: Test

I wake up in the morning and I see L staring at me from the living room chair

I wake up in the morning and I see L staring at me from the living room chair.

"You're so creepy." I say to him as I turn away so he can't see my face.

"We have to go back to where everyone else is." L says to me.

"No, I have school." I mumble.

"You're schooled by Watari now." L says to me. "Now come on." He picks me up off the couch and walks me out of the room.

"Put me down!" I say to him as we walk out of the lobby. He shakes me and we get inside his car and the driver drives away.

"Look at me, I'm in a long shirt and no pants." I say to L. "And I'm going to a place only men work."

"Indeed you are." L says to me. I roll my eyes at him and I sit quietly until we get to the building. When we get there L and I get out of the car and start towards the door. I look to my right and see a book on the ground.

"L, wait." I say as I walk over to it. He stops and waits for me as I pick up the book. "Death Note.." I mumble.

"Come on, I can't be outside for too long." L says to me. I follow him inside as I hide the notebook in my shirt.

We get up to the room and L and I walk inside.

"Alice!" Matsuda says happily.

"Matsuda! I forgot your coat, I'm so sorry!" I say to him as he runs over to me.

"It's okay, I'll go with you to get it!" He tells me. I look over at L. He looks emotionless at us.

"Hurry back." He tells us.

"Alright." I say to him. Matsuda and I leave the room just as Light opens the door. He smiles at me and walks past me.

"Why did you tell him a fake name?" Matsuda asks me.

"I don't know, just please don't tell him my real name, Matsuda." I say to him.

"Okay." He tells me as he smiles. We arrive at my apartment and Matsuda tells me that he will wait outside for me. I run up to my room and open the door and throw the notebook on my table.

"Death Note.." I mumble again. I hear sniggering behind me. I turn and can't breathe.

"No.. a shinigami?" I mumble.

"You picked up my notebook." It says to me. "It's yours to use now."

I look over at the notebook.

"What does it do?" I ask it.

"It kills people." It tells me.

"I don't want to kill anyone." I say to it.

"Then give it to me." It tells me.

"No. What's your name?" I ask it.

"Oskwitz." It tells me. I look from Oskwitz to the notebook.

I arrive back at the office fully clothed and with Oskwitz behind me, but no one can see him. He told me the rules of the Death Note, but I am not interested in it. I refuse to give it back to him, because I believe it can greatly help with the Kira case. I am going to tell L about it once I get time alone with him. I see L talking to Light next to one of the computers and I turn towards Oskwitz.

"Go away for a while." I tell him. "I want privacy."

"Fine." He says to me. He flies off, and I walk over to L and Light.

"Hey Rowen." Light says to me smiling.

"Hi." I say to him. I turn towards L. "Can I talk to you for a second?" L nods his head and Light leaves. I sit down so I'm level with L and I lean in to whisper my information to him.

"I found a notebook that can kill people." I tell him. "I believe Kira is using one just like it. I hid it back at the apartment so no one would find it. I think you should see it."

"Alright." L says to Me. "Gentlemen, we will be right back." He says as he looks around the room. L stands up and slouches his way towards the door and I follow behind him, waving to Matsuda as I leave.

"This is amazing." L mumbles. "You saw it just lying on the ground?"

"Right outside of headquarters." I tell him.

"Shinigami," L says, "is everything about the Death Note that you told us true?"

"Yes." Oskwitz says to him. "It does me no good to lie to you. But if the two of you are not intending on using it, then you might as well.."

"No." I tell him. "This could be a vital piece of evidence. We need it for the investigation of Kira."

"Alright." Oskwitz tells me. L looks at me and smiles.

"What?" I say to him.

"We're getting closer."

Three Months Later

"Two more criminals are dead." I say to the Deputy Director. "Both of heart attacks; this is Kira for sure."

"Alright." He says to me. Suddenly the door opens and Watari walks in.

"Rowen, come with me please." He tells me. I nod my head and follow him out of the office.

"What's going on?" I ask him.

"The notebook you found, you're positive it's safe?" He asks me.

"Yes." I tell him. "L and I hid it in a safe under the bed. We don't touch it."

"He's so open around you, it's frightening." Watari tells me. "L isn't like that. He doesn't "open up" to people. You've done something to him… I think he's in love with you."

"Oh, I would never go that far." I say to him. "We're just good friends, nothing else."

"Really now?" Watari asks me. "_Nothing _else?"

"Be quiet." I say to him smiling. "Now where are we going?"

"Nowhere." Watari says to me. "I just wanted to talk about L."

"Now that's not like you." I say to him. He smiles at me and the office door opens.

"We're looking in on Light and Misa." L says to us.

"Alright." I say back to him. I nod my head at Watari and I walk back into the room.

"It was smart to put them in confinement." I mumble to L as we walk over to the monitors that show us the cells.

"It was Light's idea." L says back to me.

"Ryuuzaki, that just makes it more suspicious." I tell him as I use his fake name. "Why else would he allow himself to be put into confinement? It makes no sense!"

"But the killings have continued.." L mumbles to me, waiting for another one of my answers that he finds positively amazing.

"He knew that would happen, that's the only reason why he's so comfortable in confinement, because he knows that other things are going on." I tell him. "We're playing his game right now."

"But I'm going to win." L says to me. I look at him. "The only problem.. Misa, the second Kira."

"She can kill with just a face.." I tell him. "Even if she is released from confinement, I don't want to show her my face. I don't trust her."

"You can stay home those days and I'll call you on your cell phone to keep you posted." He tells me.

"But what about you?" I ask him. "She's seen your face."

"Then what happens to me… will happen." He tells me.

"That's not an answer… or at least… one that I like." I tell him. "You shouldn't accept the situation like that."

"I don't have a choice." He tells me.

I look at him. I don't understand how he cannot be scared. I know L's personality, I know that he doesn't show fear like other people. He is… my best friend though. I don't want anything bad to happen to him. His… carelessness… as it can be described as, makes it seem as if he's peachy with dying.

"I'm worried for you." I tell him. "L… you're my best friend… nothing can happen to you..." I stop. "I won't let it."

"But then you might be killed as well." He says to me. "And I will not have you die on me, that is unacceptable."

"Ryuuzaki…" I grab his pale hand. "Don't put yourself in any unnecessary danger over this."

"I don't have a choice." He tells me again. I stare at him then I look back at the monitors.

"We should just arrest them now and go after the person who is now in control of the killings." I say.

"That's my son!" The Deputy Director barks at me.

"He is the main suspect for Kira." I tell him. "You'd risk other people's lives for something like that?"

"The killings are continuing with him in confinement!" He yells at me.

"He could have set that up." I tell him without looking at him. "Tell me, Chief, are you acting like this because Light is your son, or would you act like this to any other suspect? What if only Misa was being held captive with no connection to your son?"

"What I do as Chief is none of your concern!" He yells at me.

"It is if it risks peoples lives." I tell him.

"Rowen, you were invited onto this case, we'll kick you out." The Chief says to me.

"She's vital." L says to him. "Chief, Light-cun is still under my very strong suspicion. Rowen is not the only one who feels like that."

"Yes, you and your girlfriend." The Chief tells him. "Pedophile."

I glare into the monitor.

"As a police officer, it is your duty to put your personal feelings aside for any case. You know that." I tell the Chief.

"You put your personal feelings aside." He strikes back at me.

"I'm not a police officer." I say to him. "My feelings do not account to anything that is going on right now. My boyfriend is not wavering my views on this case."

"I have a plan that will settle this." L says to the Chief. "Take Light and Amane to a deserted location and pretend as if you're going to kill them. If they try to or kill you, then we will know that they are Kira. If not, then they aren't."

"L…" I mumble.

"Alright." The Chief says to him. He grabs his gun and heads out to finish the job.


	3. Chapter 3: Truth

I wake up in the morning and I see L staring at me from the living room chair

"That was a horrible move." I say to L as I sit up in bed. "I know that you know that that will only satisfy the task force. You know I still don't believe Light and I know you don't either."

L walks into the doorway from the bathroom, only in his jeans. He stares at me, slouched over as always, his hair as untidy as ever.

"I didn't want to do that either." He tells me.

"But you did." I say to him.

"I want Light to be innocent." He says

"Everyone does, that doesn't mean you act on what you want. That's not like you." I tell him.

'This isn't like me." He tells me. He walks over to the bed and crawls on it and rests himself on top of me. "But… this is what I want. Is that so bad?"

"Don't compare this to the case." I tell him.

"I'm horny again." He tells me.

"Then go eat some of the cake I bought you." I say to him as I roll over under him.

"That's not what I'm in the mood for." He tells me. He crawls under the blanket and gets back on top of me.

"This case is so stressful. I'm not trusted anymore by anyone." He says to me.

"I trust you." I tell him. "We will get the evidence to prove whether or not Light is Kira and Misa is the second Kira."

L smiles at me, then his face changes.

"Alice, I have to tell you something." He says to me. I sit up and look at him.

"What?" I ask him.

"Why do you trust me? Why do you feel the same way I feel about the case?" He asks me.

"Because it's what I feel is right." I say to him. "The evidence goes against Light, your points are perfect, everything you say goes together. What's not to believe?"

"Are those the only reasons?" He asks me. "There is _nothing _else?"

"Those are the only reasons." I tell him. "Why?"

"Do you remember anything from before you came to Tokyo?" He asks me.

I stop and think. I cannot remember anything.

"I… didn't get along with my parents…" I mumble. "So I left."

"That's not true." L says to me. "Watari brought you to England when you were young, to a school for extremely smart children."

"That can't be right, I'm not smart." I say to L.

"He was training you so you could possibly take over, as in, become the next L, if something ever was to happen to me." L says. I stare at him, dumbfounded.

"I would remember that…" I say to him.

"You were hit in the head by another child at the school, you lost your memory. The doctors said it you might get it back during high school." L tells me.

I turn away from him and get out of bed.

"No, no!" I say to him. I spin around and face him, he is on his knees in bed and staring wide-eyed at me. "You lied to me… you've been lying to me this whole time!" I scream at him. "I trusted you, I let you into my home, you knew all of this and never told me?!"

"Alice, listen!" L says to me. "I didn't want to tell you because it would alter your views in the case, and I wanted to see how you thought of it yourself, without my influence. You lived to please me at the school, I was like your older brother…"

"That's sick!" I scream at him. "What are you doing with me?! I let you in on my feelings… everything!"

L gets out of bed and walks over to me. He cradles my face in his hands.

"I care for you so much more than a sister," He tells me. "Please understand my point. You're the only person I've ever acted like this towards, this isn't fake." Tears run down my cheeks and L kisses me softly.

"I wanted to tell you before the memories came back on their own." He says. I nod my head and wipe away my tears, then L and I crawl into bed.

"It's not them, they passed the test." Chief tells everyone. I glare into the monitor that is in the room that was given to Misa, so she could be near Light. She is rolling around on the couch, reading magazines. An immature little…

"Rowen."

I turn and look at Matsuda, who is holding his hand out towards me. I look back down in my hands, the handcuffs that are going to connect L and Light together. I hand them to Matsuda, who handcuffs L's and Light's wrists together.

"Why can't someone else do this?" I whisper to L.

"I'm the only person who is fit for this role, you know that." He says to me. I'll be living here under surveillance, and we can go out together whenever we want.

"With Light.." I mutter.

"Don't let your emotions get in the way of the investigation." L tells me. "That was your downfall at the school, and why you weren't in the top three to take over for me, and that's what you told the Deputy Director, don't cross yourself like that." I nod my head and watch Light look at L. I hate him, but something has changed.

"Welcome to the team, Light!" Matsuda says happily. Light smiles and nods his head at Matsuda.

"Well, first business," Light says. "We have to find the man currently acting as Kira." Everyone murmurs in agreement from around the room.

"Where do you think we should start?" I ask him.

"Judging by the patterns of the recent killings," Light says, "Almost everyone who has been killed since I was locked up were business men whose companies were doing really well. All of their deaths helped one business in particular go up, Yotsuba. The new Kira works for that company."

I look at Light. 'Is this guy for real?' I think to myself. Something has changed since he was in confinement.

A cell phone starts to ring, we all turn and look at Matsuda.

"Oh! Misa has a photo shoot!" Matsuda says. "I'll be back later!" He gets up and leaves the room and Aizawa sighs.

"Idiot." He mumbles.

I look into the monitors and I watch Misa leave the room and suddenly my head begins to hurt. I push my palm against my forehead and groan quietly and L looks over at me.

"Rowen…" He mumbles. I don't respond to him. I close my eyes and reopen them; the room is spinning.

"My head… it hurts…" I mumble. I collapse on top of Aizawa and moan again. It feels as if a brick is being drilled into my head… like cement is being injected into my temple.

"Rowen!" Aizawa says to me. He picks me up and turns towards L.

"She needs to go to the hospital." He says to him. L nods his head and presses the button that pages Watari.

"What is it, L?" He asks.

"We need to get Rowen to a hospital, now." L says. "Aizawa, take her outside, I need to put on a disguise." Aizawa nods his head and runs me out to the front.

We get outside and I moan as the throbbing in my head grows worse.

"Alice, you'll be okay." Aizawa whispers to me so no one else can hear him. My eyes roll into the back of head and I grind my teeth together, just as L runs out to Aizawa, without Light.

"Put her in the car." L says. Aizawa gets into the car with me and L after him and we zoom down the street.

I am running down a hallway, laughing, playing. I see myself spin around and smile; I am so young; I am eight.

I giggle and start to run again in the opposite direction. I see myself attach to the leg and jeans on of tall, slender boy. I look up at L. He looks down at me, first not smiling, but then a huge grin appears on his face. He picks me up and hugs me and kisses my nose.

The other kids stare at us. L doesn't treat them the way he treats me. Only two others. I laugh and I kiss his nose back, then I hear bare feet against the wooden floor.

"L!" Mello yells up at him. I look down and smile and I stick my tongue out at Mello. He sneers at me and grabs my leg and pulls me out of L's arms.

Mello is ten.

I grab Mello's blonde hair and I pin him against the ground. He laughs and rolls over on top of me and starts to tickle me. Matt runs over to us, Mello's best friend, he is nine.

The three of us wrestle on the ground and then I look up at L and see Near in his arms.

Near is eight, twelve days younger than me.

I reach my hands up for L to pick me up. As does Mello, Matt just looks at us. L sits down on the floor next to us and smiles.

L is twenty.

I crawl into his lap and wrap my arms around his neck to hug him, then I feel a sharp pain in my head. My vision grows blurry as I turn around and I see a little girl holding a metal toy car in her hand, and another one right next to me. Mello stares wide-eyed from me to the girl, then his face grows angry and he turns and screams something that I cannot make out.

"Alice!" L says to me. He called me by my real name; we aren't supposed to use our real name's at Wammy House.

"Rowen!" Mello says as he grabs my arm. His young face looks at L worriedly. I cannot see any longer.

Everything goes black.

"Alice."

I open my eyes. I'm in the hospital. Aizawa and L are sitting next to me, L is wearing a long, shaggy brown wig and green contacts.

"I…I remember." I mumble. I turn to make eye contact with L. He is starring at me.

"Wammy House…" I say.

"Your memory… it's back." L says to me. He stands up and grabs my hand. "You remember back then?"

"Yes." I say to him. My head throbs. "It's hurts so bad."

"You're going to be staying here, at least two weeks." L says to me. "Your memory coming back all at once really shook your head. You won't be able to work on the case well."

"It's fine." I mumble. "Everyone would think that I would be siding with you because of our past, anyway."

"Yeah." He says to me.

"But…" I say to him. He looks at me intently. "You need to take me home some nights…" I smile at him and he smiles back at me.

"It'll make my day." He tells me.

"I remember…" I start. "You spoiled me and two others… Mello and Near. Now we're together… kind of."

"Yeah, weird." L says to me. "I try not to remember back then too much… because I was still an adult and you were eight."

I smirk and blow him a kiss.

"Take me home in two nights, and then two nights after that and so forth, until I allowed to leave." I tell him.

"Yes." He says to me. He leans down and kisses me and turns towards Aizawa. "Someone needs to stay with her while she's here, can you do that?"

"Sure." Aizawa says to him. L nods his head and winks goodbye to me and he walks out of the room. Aizawa looks at me awkwardly.

"… What is appealing?" He asks me. I smile and laugh and turn away from him.

"You really wanna know?" I ask him.

"Stop it." He tells me.

"I'm kidding!" I say to him. "You have such a dirty mind, Aizawa!" Aizawa blushes and pulls out a book. What a boring two weeks.

"I'm free!" I squeal in delight as I jump out of the hospital doors. I spin around and I look at Aizawa, who looks extremely tired. It has been almost a month, not two weeks, but time doesn't matter to me. I take out my cell phone and press L's button.

"Hello?" He says to me.

"Come home!" I say to him. I hear him laugh from the other side and he says 'okay' and hangs up.

"Just drop me off at my house, Aizawa!" I say as I jump inside his car. Aizawa sighs and gets into the drivers seat.

He lets me out at my house and I wave goodbye and run inside. I run up all of the stairs until I get to my room and I open the door and see L. I smile widely and run at him. I kiss him and hold him close to me and we fall back onto the couch.


	4. Chapter 4: Silence

I wake up in the morning and I see L staring at me from the living room chair

Two Weeks Later

"This is so interesting." I say as I turn away from the computer monitor and face Rem, another Shinigami. "You were with that guy from Yotsuba… and now you're with us?"

"I wouldn't go that far." Rem says to me. She looks away from me and over at Light, you is sneering into the computer screen. Light has been acting different since I came back, and so has Misa. I look back over at Rem who is still staring at Light.

"Rem." I say to her. She looks at me. "Did Misa ever have control over your Death Note?"

"Why would I tell you?" Rem asks me. The others all look at me, they have all asked this question before.

"Why not?" I say back to her. "We are already almost positive that she was the second Kira, why not just tell us the truth?"

Rem doesn't say anything to me. She looks at me in the computer screen. Her eyes are burning into the screen, nothing can break her stare. Then she looks at Light.

She is silent.

"Rem." I say to her. Suddenly Misa wines loudly. We all look over at the computer and I roll my eyes.

"Rowen, put a smile on." L says to me. He sits in his chair the way he always does and looks into the computer screen.

"Let's go over the new evidence." Light says. L nods his head and Light opens the folder, then the computer screen goes black, and a small message appears on the screen.

"All Data Corrupted."

"Watari?!" L screams into the microphone connecting him to Watari. There is no response. L looks from the microphone to the screen then he freezes. He moans quietly and begins to fall from his chair.

"L!" I scream. I grab him and we both crash to the floor together and I grab his shoulder and pull him to up me.

"L!" I scream again. He blinks slowly and looks up at me. He smiles and blows me a kiss, and then he looks at Light. His eyes widen and he looks back at me.

"L, don't die on us! We need you!" I scream. He smiles at me and his eyes close. His dead weight burdens my arms.

I begin to quiver.

"L…" I mumble quietly. I turn and face Light; he is looking at L… in disbelief? It doesn't matter.

"It was you!" I scream at him. "I don't care if you were in the room with us, you did something to make this happen!" I look around the room at everyone's shocked faces.

"Rowen, I didn't…"

I slap Light across the face.

"I know it was you, you are Kira." I hiss at him. I look down at L and tears stream down my face. I stand up and leave the room. I hear Matsuda calling my name but I keep on walking.

Two days later I attend L's burial, alone.

Alone.

The years go by, Kira is life, Kira is God. The world has come to worship Kira. Anyone who wants to stop him is considered evil, and will be killed.

I turn sixteen; I get my first tattoo, an 'L' on my forearm, not out of love, out of respect. Respect for the man whom I know is right.

The years continue to slump by. Where am I hiding? No one knows. I run away after L and Watari were killed. I deleted all of my data that the force had on me. No more pictures of me, accept one picture that I always have on me, one picture that L actually let me take. It is of us eating ice cream together. He is smiling, a rare sight to have seen, unless you were me.

L always smiled when we were together, always.

Always… almost never with the task force, unless someone did something amazing or I said something 'funny' or 'cute'.

I continue to follow up on the Kira case. If Light can hack into the computers, than so can I.

I can.

I am eighteen years old. I'm legal now, but for whom? No one, for no one.

No one.


	5. Chapter 5: Mr Aizawa

I wake up in the morning and I see L staring at me from the living room chair

Nineteen years old.

I am sitting at my computer desk, drinking a mug of hot chocolate and humming a hymn. Suddenly a name catches my eye.

"Mello…" I mumble to myself. I scroll down the page and see another name, "Near".

I freeze. They cannot be… from Wammy House.

I continue to read.

"The task force is heading for L.A…" I mumble. I look around at my few belongings. I put my things together and leave the house.

I get to the airport and check in and I wait in my boarding section for L.A.. I am wearing a black Sex Pistols tank top with a white button up over it. I have the sleeves rolled up and my L tattoo visible. I see something out of the corner of my eye and I turn and see an older man quickly look the other direction of me. He's in his thirties.

I reach into my bag and pull out a journal and I feel the seat next to me shift. I turn and see the man from before sitting next to me.

He looks so familiar.

"That's a dangerous tattoo to be showing off in public." He says to me.

"I have nothing to worry about." I say to him. His eyes narrow, I know this man from somewhere.

"Have we met before?" I ask him.

He looks at me.

"I don't believe so." He tells me. I look him over; his hair, short and very curly, like it's just been cut, very short facial hair, a broad nose and plump lips…

"Aizawa…" I mumble. He scoots away in his chair.

"How do you know my name?!" He demands.

I look around to make sure no one is listening or watching and I lean towards him.

"I am Alice, 'Rowen'." I whisper to him. His eyes widen.

"No…" He tells me. "You vanished…"

"I ran, Kira would've killed me." I tell him. "I know everyone else surrounding the case besides the task force has died, it's no question that I would've died too if I hadn't left."

"Why are you going to L.A.?" Aizawa asks me.

"Probably almost the same reason you're going." I tell him. I say nothing more about it, and neither does he. The bell rings for us to get onto the plane.

"Please don't tell anyone you saw me here." I say to him.

"I won't…" He tells me. We board the plane and we are sitting next to each other.

I fall asleep.

I wake up and we are getting off of the plane. I stand up next to Aizawa and he smiles at me.

"You've grown so much…" He tells me.

"It's been six years." I say back to him. He smiles at me as we exit the plane. I put on my sunglasses as we enter the airport, it is my first time being back in the states since… before I was brought to Wammy House.

I turn to Aizawa and I smile at him.

"I'll be seeing you soon." I say to him. "Trust me."

He nods his head and looks around and quickly gives me a hug and a kiss on the forehead.

"Stay safe, Alice." He tells me. I nod my head and he leaves.

I grab all of my luggage and I walk outside. I need a cab to take me to the apartment I bought just before I left Tokyo. I get one and we drive to the apartment complex. I walk inside and I get my room key and walk upstairs to my room. My cell phone rings.

"Hello?" I say.

"You're staying next to the place we're staying in." Aizawa says to me. "Are you following me?"

"No." I say to him as I look around. "I'm here for my own business. The others won't be able to tell it's me, will they?" I ask him.

"No." He says back to me. "I'll call you when I can."

"Alright." I say to him. I hang up the phone and continue to my room.

Two weeks have gone by. By hacking the task forces' computer I am able to get useful information.

"Near is smarter than you, Light." I mumble as I see that Near has already tracked down four houses that he thinks Mello might be in. Mello kidnapped the Deputy Director's daughter and just gave her back. Mello's a mobster now. I feel a tap on my back and hear snickering behind me. I turn and gasp when I see Oskwitz.

"What are you doing here?" I say to him in shock. "I gave you your notebook back years ago!"

"Breaking the rules makes the game more fun." He says to me. "Near is wrong, none of those houses are where Mello is at. However…you could get the address from one of Mello's men with this."

Oskwitz hands me the notebook.

"No, I refuse to use that." I say to him.

"But it'll be more exciting if you have a lead on all of them." He tells me. I smirk at him.

"Then you make one of the other mobsters send it to me." I tell him.

"Alright." He says to me. He scribbles something down in his notebook. "Five days."

Five days later a letter is delivered to my apartment.

"945 Clydown Ave…" I mumble. I turn towards Oskwitz who is eating a banana. "Let's go."

"Heh heh… alright." He tells me.


	6. Chapter 6: Cornered

I wake up in the morning and I see L staring at me from the living room chair

I get into my car and begin to drive. My heart is pounding in my chest. Mello is a mobster… he could have me killed.

I stop my car outside of the building where Mello is and I step outside. Oskwitz is behind me and I hear him laugh.

"What?" I ask him.

"Another shinigami." He says to me.

"Tell him I'm just here to talk to Mello." I say to him. Oskwitz mumbles something and I walk forward. I take a few steps and a voice booms around me.

"Who are you with?" An angry voice barks at me.

"No one!" I say back to it. "Please, just let me in! This is important!"

"Yeah right, you're probably with the FBI or something." The voice says back to me. "Any last words?"

"I just want to talk to Mihael!" I scream. The voice doesn't say anything. Another voice speaks into the speaker.

"What did you just say?" It asks me.

"Mello… let me talk to Mello…" I reply.

"The other name! What did you just say?" The voice asks me.

"Mihael Keehl." I mumble.

"Come inside." The voice says to me.

I enter the warehouse and start up the stairs in front of me. I reach a doorway at the top of it and knock on it. I man with long blonde hair, a pointed nose, and glasses opens the door. I look past him and see an adult with leather pants, a leather vest, and perfect blonde hair sitting with his legs wide open on the couch. He has a chocolate bar in his hand. I walk inside the room and freeze.

"Mello…" I mumble. I take a step towards him and a black man at another end of the room points his gun at me.

"Who are you?" Mello asks me.

"Alice Jacobs." I say to him. He eyes widen and he sits up.

"…Alice…" He mumbles.

I take another step towards him and I hear the man click the gun.

I stand in the middle of the room facing Mello. He stares back at me from the couch. He stands up.

"No…" He says to me. "You can't be…"

I look at him and don't move. I know I'll be shot if I do.

"L died in my arms…" I say to him. Tears start to run down my face. "My memory came back to me not even two months before then. I found you…"

My bottom lip quivers and I break eye contact with Mello and I look down at the floor and begin to cry.

"Put your gun down." Mello orders. The man holding the gun lowers it and I look up at Mello. He looks me over; I run to him.

I wrap my arms around his waist and I cry into his chest. He falls back onto the couch and my knees hit the floor and I end up crying near his crotch. I sob uncontrollably but Mello helps me up and pulls me next to him.

"I thought I would never see you again." He says to me. I start to cry again, this time my body shakes heavily with each sob. He holds me close to him and rubs my head.

"Leave." He orders everyone else. Everyone leaves and he kisses my cheek.

"You've grown up to be so beautiful." He tells me.

"You've grown up to be so bad." I say back to him. "I thought you were trying to become L's successor?"

"I have my own way of beating Kira." Mello says to me. "I don't have to be exactly like L to become L."

"They're going to find you." I say to him. "The current L and the others, they're smart, they will find you."

"You're so negative." Mello says back to me. "I'm smart, you know. I can keep myself hidden."

"But will you?" I ask him.

"This is the first time we've seen each other in eleven years!" Mello says to me as he stands up. "And all you have to talk about is the Kira case, and how I'm not playing the game safe?"

"Not at all!" I say to him as I stand up. "I would love to talk to you about how life has been and such, but there are more important things that we are dealing with at the moment."

There is a crash downstairs, Mello turns swiftly and looks at the computer monitors.

"Shit." He mumbles. His mobsters run into the room and slam the door behind them.

"Police officers, five of them, they just barged into the building, they're armed and have cameras attached to them!" One of the mobsters yells.

"It was her!" Another one barks. "They showed up right after she got here! It has to have been her!"

Mello looks at me.

"No, I swear I didn't!" I say to him, fearing for my life again. Mello looks away from me and at one of his men.

"Give me the notebook!" He yells at him. The man is about to turn around but the door is banged on and a piece of wood soars across the room, taking out one of the men.

"Shit!" Mello yells again. He grabs my arm and pulls me up the stairs.

We run down at long hallway and finally we reach the room at the end of the hallway.

"In here." Mello says to me. We run inside and he slams the door. There are cameras everywhere, this is the main control room. Mello runs over to the main desk and sits on top of it. He looks into the monitors, then he faces me.

"This button," Mello says to me, "can blow up everything outside of this room. If worse comes to worse, then I will press it." He tells me. I nod my head, then I look carefully at the computer monitors.

"No…" I mumble. I see Aizawa and Matsuda and the other task force members running around the house. I bite my lip and look down at the ground then Mello sighs.

"We're the only ones left…" He says to me. He presses the button.

"No!" I scream. The rooms outside blow up and I watch the monitors in horror as everyone is covered by wood and furniture. Mello looks at me in disbelief.

"What did you say…?" He asks me. I turn and look at him, then I see movement in the monitors.

"They're alive." I mumble. I see the men get up and walk to the door.

"You with the Death Note, Deputy Director," Mello says into a loud speaker. "All of you break off the cameras you have on your helmets, and Director, enter the room without your gun. Everyone does as they're told and the Deputy Director walks into the room and closes the door. I grab Mello's arm and I try to hide my face behind his shoulder. The Director looks at us… in an evil way.

"Mihael Keehl." He mumbles. "And Alice Jacobs."

I look into the monitor and see the other men outside give each other worried glances.

"How do you know my name?" Mello yells at him.

"Just give up and turn yourself in and I won't kill you." The Deputy Director says to him. Mello doesn't say anything, he just gets off of the desk.

Immediately the director starts scribbling in the notebook.

"Stop!" I yell. The Director looks up at us.

"I've already written down your first name," He says to Mello. "It will only take me a second more to write down your family name, don't make me kill you."

I look worriedly at Mello.

"I'm sorry, Director." Mello says to him. "Honestly, I didn't think I would ever see you in person, but I guess I was wrong."

I see Mello's eyes flash to another part of the room and his slightly smirks.

"I never had the intension of killing you," Mello continues. I see what Mello smirked at. One of his men, whom I thought was lying dead on the floor, is crawling towards a gun on the ground. I look at Mello, extremely scared.

"But do you really think you can kill me, Deputy Director? You've never killed a man before, have you?," Mello says. The Deputy Director stares at him. The man on the floor reaches the gun. I hide behind Mello right as the man grabs the gun and begins to shoot. The bullets blast through the Director and he falls to the floor. Mello grabs a mask and shoves it onto his head as the man tries to get the Death Note out of the Deputy Directors hands.

"It's no good, he won't let go!" The man screams. Suddenly the door bursts open. I hide behind Mello again as all of the guns begin to go off. Mello's man lies dead on the floor and I look across the room at the others. The tall, thin man whom I know at Aizawa is looking at me. I feel the tears stream down my face.

"Give it up, Mello!" Matsuda yells. It's been so long since I've heard his voice.

"Rowen, forgive me." Mello whispers to me. He pulls me as close to him as he can and buries my face in his leather vest, and he presses the button.

I wake up and I see that I am in a white hospital gown. I look around and I see that Mello isn't with me. I sit up and I look at my arms and legs. Nothing, I am not burned at all.

"Mello…" I mumble to myself. I stand up and walk to the doorway of my room and I peer out of it, only to yank my head back inside.

Light Yagami and Misa are standing outside.

"Shit." I mumble. I hear the nurses voice who they are talking to .

"We could find no information on her, no name, so birth certificate, I don't know how she will be able to pay for the bill…" The nurse says.

"I'll cover it." Light says to her. "She was with my father while he was shot, so do you think I could ask her some questions now?"

I look around the room, there is no place for me to go. I run to the window; I am far from the ground. I turn back around and look from left to right in panic. I look up and see a vent that I can easily crawl through. I stand on top of my bed and open it quietly and I crawl inside. I close the vent and begin to crawl.

I crawl for about five minutes and I silently lay down and breathe quietly. I see light up ahead and I crawl forward and look down onto the floor. No one is there. I open the vent and jump down.

No one is in sight.

I run past the elevators and I start down the emergency exit stairs. I cover my face with the front of my hospital gown until I get to the bottom floor. I look around and I don't see Light or Misa, and I run for the exit.

I get outside and I run across the street to a payphone hidden by a bus. I dial collect and punch in the numbers of the only person I can call.

"Hello?" Aizawa's voice says.

"Aizawa, it's me." I say into the phone. "I'm outside of the hospital, can you come pick me up?"

It's quite.

"You were with Mello." He says to me. "The Deputy Director… he's dead."

I collapse onto the floor in the phone booth and I start to cry.

"I didn't want it to happen…" I whisper to him. He doesn't say anything to me. "I'm sorry." I tell him.

I hang up the phone.


	7. Chapter 7: Reunion

I wake up in the morning and I see L staring at me from the living room chair

I arrive back at my apartment and I close the door. Everything is how it was when I left. I look at the calendar; it's been only a day since I saw Mello. I walk to my bed and I fall down on it and I cry. I fall asleep crying.

I wake up and I feel a difference in the weight of my bed. I sit up and I turn around and I gasp. I hooded figure has his back to me on my bed.

I am not frightened.

"W-who are you?" I ask him.

He turns and looks at me. My jaw drops.

"Mello!" I gasp as I grab him and hug him. Part of the left side of his face is badly burned. His hair is untidy, but he looks overall okay.

"Are you alright? Do I need to take you to the hospital?" I ask him. He shakes his head and looks at the floor.

"I'll make you something to eat." I tell him. I get off of the bed and I stand in front of him.

"Come to the living room."

He doesn't say anything, he just slowly stands up.

"Mello… talk to me." I say to him. Suddenly the doorbell rings. "I'll be back." I say to him. I leave my bedroom and I put on a pair of sunglasses right before I open the door.

"Can I help you?" I ask.

It's a boy who's a good four or five inches taller than me. He has extremely dark red hair, and is wearing orange goggle sunglasses. He is wearing a vest over a black and white stripped long sleeve t-shirt, and jeans with boots that go up to almost his knees.

He smells like smoke.

"I'm here for Mello." He says to me.

"What?" I say back to him. He looks at me then he reaches out and takes off my sunglasses.

"You've changed so much." He says to me.

"Do I know you?" I ask him.

"I'm Matt." He tells me.

Even when I was younger I wasn't best friends with Matt, I only really knew him since he was Mello's best friend. He was an alright guy back then, but he always rubbed it in my face since he was a year older than me. Like he had any room to brag, cause Mello was a year older than him.

"Oh…" I mumble. I don't know if I should give him a hug or not. Matt makes that decision for me. He walks past me into the apartment and straight to my bedroom where Mello is.

"I brought the stuff for your face." Matt says as he hands Mello a tube of something. Mello looks at it then he looks at me. I walk over to him and take the tube out of his hand and we sit on the bed again. I squeeze the ointment out and I gently massage it over his burns.

"I'm not hurting you, am I?" I ask him. He shakes his head no and smirks. "Well at least you're smirking now; I was starting to worry about you."

"Yeah right." He says back to me. I brush his blonde hair out of his face and I put the ointment on his forehead. He smiles and sighs. "Are you this good in bed?"

"Mello." Matt says. Mello looks over at him. "I set up cameras, but nothing's really happening. It's really boring."

"This is a murder case, you are doing extreme under-cover investigating, it's not supposed to be super fun." Mello says back to him.

"It's still hell of boring, you didn't even bother to call me with the mafia gig." Matt mutters at he pulls out a cigarette.

"Matt, you know you're not a mafia guy." Mello says to him.

"So, it would've been more fun then what I'm doing right now." Matt says back to him. I finish putting the ointment on Mello's face and he turns and smiles at me.

"Marry me." He tells me. I blush and stand up off the bed.

"What do you guys want to eat?" I ask them.

"Chocolate." Mello says. I roll my eyes and I look at Matt.

"Hash browns." He tells me. I nod my head and I walk into the kitchen.

After I finish cooking them food I pull out a pair of jeans and a lacey pirate-corset and I get dressed. I walk back into my room where Matt and Mello still are and Mello gapes at me.

"Please marry me." He says to me again. I roll my eyes and I sit on the bed next to he and Matt.

My cell phone starts to ring. I pick it up and sigh; it's Aizawa.

"Hello." I say into the phone.

"Where are you?" He asks me. "It's all over the news how you escaped from the hospital, you're damn lucky you weren't there long enough for them to have taken a picture of you."

"Is Light pissed?" I ask him. Aizawa is silent for a moment.

"He's more than pissed. He says if had you're picture then he could find you easily." Aizawa tells me.

"That's no surprise." I say back to him. "If he had my picture then he could kill me or make me send him information of where I am or something."

"You still think he's Kira?" Aizawa asks me. "After all these years?"

"I've never doubted it." I tell him. "I don't care how it seems. L was the most intelligent person I ever knew, and he firmly believed that Light was Kira. Even without L's assumptions, the evidence pointing towards Light was undeniably solid. And even after this long, the evidence still stands strong. Tell me, how did you know where to find Mello?"

There is silence on the other end.

"…Light didn't tell us." He says to me.

"Exactly." I say back to him. "Do you need anything else?"

"No." He tells me. "Just stay safe."

"Will do." I say back to him. I hang up the phone and I look at Matt and Mello.

"So what's the plan?" I ask them.

"Move our things into the apartment." Mello says to me.

"This place isn't big enough for three people." I say to him. "Where do you expect everyone to sleep?"

"On the bed." Mello says to me. "Well, Matt can sleep on the couch if you want him to."

"Oh wow." Matt says as he pulls out a portable video game.

"You can both sleep on the couches, since there are two." I say to Mello. "Besides, I kick in my sleep."

"I hump in my sleep." Mello says to me. Matt laughs.

"No, you two will be sleeping in the living room and I will sleep on my bed. I don't know why you two don't just stay at Matt's house…" I mutter.

"Mello finally decided to call me and I sold my place." Matt says to me. "He told me he had a place where we could stay."

I glare at Mello.

"What?" He says to me.

"You cannot just do things like this!" I snap at him. "If anyone sees you guys and connects us together…"

Mello grabs my face and kisses me. Matt moans and I push away.

"I'm serious!" I yell at him. "The task force is much closer than you think and…"

"Who cares!" Mello says to me. "For six years I have been able to keep myself hidden! So have you! I'll be damned if I let myself be caught now!"

I look at him and then at Matt. Matt looks at me and pulls off his goggles; his green eyes shine brightly. I look back at Mello and I nod my head.

"You're name is Rowen, now." He says to me. "You are to tell no one of your real name, is that certain?"

"I've been doing that since the beginning." I say to him. He nods his head and grabs a bag from the foot of the bed and tosses it at me.

"These are you new clothes." He says to me. I pull a pair of shredded jeans, an orange tank top, and a leather jacket out of the bag. I look over at Mello.

"We will travel together." He says to me. "We will wear sunglasses when we are outside, we will hide our faces. Protecting our identity is the only key to staying alive."

"Right." I say to him. I pull off my top and begin to put on the other one. Matt and Mello stare at me. I smirk. "And to think I thought the two of you were gay."

"I am nowhere near gay!" Matt says to me. I smile at him and Mello grabs my arm and pulls me over to him.

""You want me to prove I'm not gay?" He asks me.

I smile at him again.

"I was kidding, boys." I say to hem. I grab the pants and walk out of the room as Matt and Mello's eyes follow me.

I walk back into the room and put on the leather jacket.

"So where's your stuff?" I ask them.

"In a storage unit a couple blocks from here." Matt tells me.

"Alright." I say to him. I grab my sunglasses off of my nightstand and put them on. "Lets go, boys."

We walk down the street, looking extremely hardcore. I've never felt so bad-ass in my life. Both Mello and Matt are over five inches taller than me, both are bigger than I am; I look like I am the leader of a gang, or that Mello and Matt are my guards.

Matt pulls out a cigarette and begins to smoke; Mello takes another bite out of his chocolate bar.

We arrive at the storage place and unlock the unit to where Mello and Matt's belongings are.

"Wow, I thought there would be a lot more." I say to them.

"Nope," Matt says. "We don't need much."

We grab all of their things and head back towards my apartment. We are getting ready to cross the street when another man stands next to us. I turn and I see that it's Light.

'Shit!' I say in my head. I look away from him and up at Mello. He looks down at me and smiles.

"What?" He asks me. I stand on my toes so I can reach his ear.

"The man next to me is Light Yagami, he was part of the task force when I was there. Both L and I suspected him of being Kira." I whisper to him. Mello looks from me to Light and stares at him. Light turns and looks at him. His eyes try to penetrate Mello's sunglasses. Immediately I grab Mello's face and kiss him passionately.

"Ha ha, excuse me for intruding." Light says to us. The walk signal turns on and he starts across the street. I pull away from Mello and I shrug my shoulders.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he's been to Wammy House and asked for what you look like." I tell Mello. "I just didn't want to risk him seeing through your sunglasses."

"Thanks." He says to me. He readjusts his bags and the three of us start across the street.

"What now?" I ask as we get outside of the apartment and I pull out the key.

"Well, I am kind of horny." Mello says to me.

"Hey! So am I!" Matt says as we walk inside. "I've gotten barely any action cause I left Wammy House so recently. You've been in the mafia for forever! Don't even try to say you haven't gotten any!"

I look at Mello and he looks at me and bites his lip.

"Then break him in." Mello says to me. "He's got a point. Besides, you haven't been with anyone since L… right?"

I don't say anything at first.

"…Right." I say to him. Mello nods his head and walks back towards the door.

"I'll be back later." He says to me. He grabs the doorknob and begins to open the door but I run and grab his hand.

"Mello." I say to him. He looks at me. "Why are you doing this to yourself? I barely know Matt, and it's obvious you feel uncomfortable with this."

"Drink some vodka and just do it." Mello says to me. "These sorts of things aren't about love anymore; we're all risking our lives, sex is just sex now." He pulls his hand away from mine and closes the door behind him. I turn and face Matt who his just looking at me.

"I do think you're pretty." He tells me.

"I'm horny too." I say to him. "Lets just do it and be done for now." Matt nods his head and pulls off his shirt and walks over to the bed

"Doesn't this feel kind of awkward?" I ask him and I take off my shirt and lie down on top of him.

"Not really." He says to me. "It's kind of exciting."

"You talk like a virgin." I say to him as I unbutton his jeans and take them off. He looks at me in his boxers and takes off his goggles. I unbutton my jeans and smile at him and he pulls them off the rest of the way for me.

"I am not a virgin." He tells me. I laugh at him and I roll my eyes.

Mello walks into the apartment and Matt and I look at him from the table.

"I bought you chocolate." I say to him. He nods his head and walks over to the cupboard.

"Where did you go?" Matt asks him.

"Around." Mello responds. He grabs a chocolate bar and unwraps the top and he takes a huge bite from it.

"Mello." I say to him. He turns and looks at me. I motion for him to come over towards me, and he does.

"What?" He asks me.

"Are you still horny?" I ask him. He smiles at me.

"Matt couldn't fill you up?" He asks me.

"Hey!" Matt screams from across the table.

"No, that's not it. Matt was wonderful." I say to Mello without breaking eye contact. "Just… you did ask first…"

Mello's grin grows wider and he takes another bite out of his chocolate bar.

"Matt, go spy." Mello says to him. Matt rolls his eyes and gets up and walks out of the apartment.

Mello and I just stand looking at each other. I smile at him and he sets down his chocolate bar. He leans over to me and puts his hand behind my neck. He pulls me close to him and puts his other hand up my shirt. I smile and pull away only enough so I can look at him face to face.

"What?" He asks me.

"You look so rugged with the burn on your face." I tell him. "I like it." Mello smiles at me and backs me up until we reach the bedroom.

"This is so boring!" Matt whines as he stands up and walks away from me. I smile after him and I look back at Light walking down the street. We are on the top of a cell phone company building spying on Light and Misa and other members of the task force. Mello is off doing something so Matt and I are bored by ourselves on the building.

"This isn't that boring." I say to Matt as I take off my leather jacket and set it on the ledge. "This is important investigation of the Japanese Task Force."

He smirks and rolls his eyes at me and looks out of his binoculars again.

"At least Misa's fun to watch, she's kind of cute." He says to me. I pretend to gag then my phone rings.

"Sup, babe?" I jokingly say into the phone as I look down at all of the people walking around the street.

"You're funny." Mello says to me. He sighs on the other end.

"Really, what's up?" I say to him as I put the phone on speaker and Matt walks over to me.

"I have to make contact with Near." He says over with phone. "He has the only picture of me ever taken from Wammy's House. I need to get it so there is no possible way of Kira getting a hold of it."

"So what's the problem?" I ask him.

"They've never liked each other." Matt says to me. "Ever since we were kids at the orphanage, they were always rivals."

"Oh.." I mumble. "When are we going there?"

"Now."


	8. Chapter 8: Confrontation

I turn around and see Mello standing behind us with his hands in his pockets. He looks at me and smirks, then he frowns.

"I've located one of the members of the SPK, but she's in New York. I know where she's been leaving for work everyday, so I also know the exact location of Near's hideout. We're going to the airport right now; I have your tickets ready and our bags outside."

Mello stops talking and looks at Matt.

"Your car and my bike's been sent over there already. When we get there you'll take you car and Rowen will go with me. We will take different routes but we'll arrive at the same time."

"Okay." Matt says to him.

We arrive at the airport in costumes and board the plane. We are all sitting together; Matt as my older brother and Mello as my fiancé. Mello booked us a non-stop flight to avoid anything going wrong, and after almost ten hours of sleepless flight we arrive in New York. We get off the plane and head outside to where our cars are parked. Matt pulls off the shirt he was wearing over his stripped one and puts his vest on.

"We'll be there in ten minutes." Mello says handing Matt the directions. Matt nods his head and gets in his car as I quickly change back into my normal clothes. Mello does the same and we hop onto his bike.

"Beat you there." Mello says to him. Matt nods his head from inside the car and speeds off. Mello and I take off in the opposite way down the busy streets of New York City.

After driving for ten minutes we park our vehicles about one-hundred yards across from a tall building. Matt stops leaning against his car and smirks at us. He won.

Mello rolls his eyes and starts walking towards the building with Matt and I on either sides. I look at Mello who looks only determined, a face I am completely used to.

We get inside and head down a long hallway. Mello's gaze refuses to advert from the door only fifty feet ahead of us. There is a buzzing sound and the door in front of us opens. The three off us walk inside and to the middle of the room. Sitting on a chair, twirling his hair is Near, and Mello grits his teeth.

"I knew I'd be seeing you soon, Mello." Near says to him.

"I came for my picture." Mello says to him. "Give it to me."

"Take it, it's not like I want it." Near says to him. "I only took it because I knew sooner or later the Japanese Task Force would get to Wammy's House and if your picture was there.. well, you might not be her now."

Mello grits his teeth.

"How noble of you." He snarls at him.

"Mello, I don't believe you realize how vital you are to me." Near tells him. "Thanks to you I have been able to greatly narrow down my suspects for Kira."

Mello's eyes narrow and he pulls out his gun and aims it at Near.

"I am not a tool for you to use to solve the puzzle!" Mello barks at him. The men of the SPK pull out their guns and aim them at Mello.

"Commander Rester, please lower your gun." Near says without any change in his voice. "Mello, if you want to shoot me, shoot."

Mello finger hovers over the trigger and I sense that the temptation of Near's request is getting the better of him. I jump in front of Mello and put my hand over the gun.

"Mello, if you kill Near right now then even if you do catch Kira it will be pointless." I say to him. "And if you shoot Near, the SPK members will have no choice but to shoot you. What good is it if both of you die? That will only satisfy Kira."

Mello smirks at me as he puts his gun away.

"She's right, Near." Mello says to him. "So I guess you just need to give me my photo then."

"Yes." Near says to him as he holds up the picture. "There are no copies of it, so don't worry about Kira finding another one. And the video cameras here do not record, so there are no video tapes of you either."

Mello is silent for a second, then he looks at Near.

"Near, I have no intentions of joining forces with you..." Mello tells him.

"I know." Near says back to him.

"But.." Mello starts, "it would upset me to receive this picture without giving anything in return…"

There is a long silence.

"The murder notebook is a Shinigami's notebook, and people who touch it are able to see the Shinigami." Mello tells him.

"Impossible!" One of Near's men say.

"Who's going to believe that?" Another man asks.

"I believe him." Near says. "There would be no point in Mello lying to us about something like this. Besides, if he were to lie to us about something it would be something far more logical than a Shinigami story."

Mello smirks at him.

"The Shinigami who owned the notebook I had had to come back down to the human world to retrieve it, but another Shinigami had it before." Mello tells him.

"We know that because the rules are written in English, so that a human is able to work the notebook. And if the Shinigami who owned the book eventually wanted it back, then he wouldn't waste time writing the rules in it." Near responds.

Mello looks at Matt and I motioning that we're about to leave. Matt and I get ready to walk away, then Mello says one more thing.

"There is a fake rule hidden with the others." Mello tells him. "That's all the information I can give you."

Mello starts to walk away, then he stops again.

"Near."

"Mello."

"Which of us is going to get to Kira first?" Mello asks Near with a grin pasted across his face.

"The race is on." Near says to him, smirking under his white hair.

I'll be waiting for you when you get there." Mello says to Near as he grins evilly. He continues to walk out of the room with Matt and I beside him.

"Yeah, you two seem like great friends." I say to Mello as we get outside. He turns to me and smiles and pulls my face so close to his that I can feel him breathing against my face.

"We're going to win." He says to me.


	9. Chapter 9: Confrontation 2

Matt and I are sitting on the couch in our new apartment. Both of us are bored out of our minds waiting for Mello to come back from wherever he disappeared to.

"Rowen." Matt says to me. I look over at him. "Wanna do it?" I sigh.

"Matt.. come on…" I mumble.

"We hardly ever do it!" He says to me. "Maybe if I'm lucky once or twice a week, but you and Mello are always together!"

"Matt…" I mumble again. "I'm the only girl, don't you think I get tired and sore?"

"You, no way." Matt says to me. He stops for a moment, then he smirks at me. "It isn't really just sex for you and Mello anymore, is it?" He asks me.

"Matt…" I mumble again as I rest my forehead in the palm of my hand. "Come on…"

"It is!" He says to me as he jumps up. He has a huge grin spread across his face. "That's why Mello doesn't masturbate anymore!"

"Matt!" I snap at him as a smile consumes my face. "Shut up, you're disgusting!"

"And that explains all of the moans I hear every night in my dreams!" He says to me. "Oh my God, it's like a really good sex film, not even porno status! I always thought that was just me being horny in my dreams…"

"Shut up!" I say to him as I stand up.

"You can't have sex without condoms!" Matt squeals as he runs away from the table and into the bedroom where my nightstand it.

"Hey! Don't!" I yell after him as run after him to the room. He yanks open the drawer and finds an empty box of condoms, and dozens of empty wrappers.

"Oh my God…" He mumbles. "Holy fuck! How often do you guys…"

I slam the drawer shut and stare at him.

"It's none of your business what Mello and I door behind closed doors." I say to him.

"Well you're out of condoms anyway, so you can't have sex." He says to me.

"And who says we haven't?" I say to him as I raise and eyebrow and stick out my tongue at him.

"…You whore!" He snaps at me. He picks up a pillow and slams it into my face causing me to roll onto the ground. I laugh and stand back up then the front door opens.

"Honey, you're home!" Matt squeals as he frolics out of the room and over to Mello.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" Mello asks him as he sets a bag down on the ground.

"What do you want me to leave so you and your girlfriend can get it on?" Matt asks as he winks at Mello. Mello looks over at me and smirks and then looks back at Matt.

"Get serious, Matt. We've got business to attend to." Mello says to him. The three of us sit down at the table and Mello pulls a picture of Mogi out from his pockets.

"I know him from the task force." I say to Mello. Mello nods his head.

"We're setting him up." Mello says to me. "I am wanted by the task force so I cannot meet up with him anywhere, there's too much of a chance that he could apprehend me."

"So what's the plan?" Matt asks as he pulls out a cigarette and lights it.

"We're going to send him straight to Near." Mello says as he pulls out a chocolate bar and takes a bite from it. "Of course, he will think he's meeting me, and more than likely the task force has a connection set up between their phones so they can listen to the conversations they all have. I will beat them by sending him to Near. Near is great with interrogations and can make Kira stand out like a black sheep."

I nod my head.

"They're all the way in L.A., it'll take half a day for him to get here." I say to him.

"I just told Near about the plan." Mello says. "All we need to do is call Mogi." He pulls out his cell phone and holds it to his ear. "Put the ear pieces in." Matt and I put tiny earring size plates into our ears and listen as the phone rings. The ringing stops.

"Are you Mogi?" Mello says into the phone. Mogi doesn't say anything. "Are you alone?"

"No…" Mogi mumbles.

"Then there is someone right next to you?" Mello asks.

"No." Mogi says again.

"So this conversation is not being overheard." Mello says, even though he's aware that it's not true. "In that case, just keep answering so this conversation doesn't seem to fishy and the other people don't realize who you're talking to."

"Okay." Mogi says to him.

Mello doesn't say anything for a couple seconds.

"Mogi, why don't you come to New York to see me?" Mello asks him with a smirk on his face. Mogi grunts on the other line. "I won't tell you anything else unless you agree to go to the location where I tell you to. No cameras, no wires, and make sure to bring a lot of extra cell phone batteries." Mogi still doesn't say anything. "I want you to tell me right now if you're coming or not, I don't want you to have enough time to make plans with the other people around you. I don't want you to ever hang up your phone, except when you're on the plane; stay on the line with me at all times until you board and get off of the plane. I'll call you right when you land."

"Okay, where do I need to go?" Mogi asks Mello.

"Good." Mello says to him with a smirk on his face. "I need you to go to the exit of the Nick St. Station in New York as fast as you can."

"Come on." Mello says to Matt and I. I open my eyes to yawn and look around.

"Mogi's about to get off the plane." Mello says to me. "We need to get to a building next to Near's place so I can watch Mogi when he gets there."

I stand up and put on my jacket as Matt continues to sleep.

"He'll be fine." Mello says to me as he opens the door. I walk outside with him and we get onto his motorcycle.

Ten minutes later we arrive outside of Near's hideout. Mello parks his motorcycle and we go into a building right across from it, and Mello holds the phone up to his ear.

"Get on the subway that just pulled up next to you. Get off at the next stop and walk up to the street."

Three minutes later Mogi appears on the street.

"I've arrived at Nick St. Station exit." Mogi says.

"Good, go into the building directly across from you." Mello says. Mogi walks towards the building and I see a familiar figure exit the subway.

"Aizawa." I say quietly so Mogi cannot hear me from over the phone. Another man whom I do not recognize exits after Aizawa and both of them go stand in hidden places where they can still see the building. Mello pulls out another phone and holds it to his ear.

"Near, Mogi is at your building." Mello tells him. "I get to use you now. Like I said, question him. Pull as much information as you can out of him, and do not hang up the phone."

"Let the man in." Near says on the other line. Mello and I hear a door open and Mogi stops breathing. "Hello, it's nice to meet you, I'm Near."


	10. Chapter 10: Distortion

Two days later I walk into the room and see Mello sitting against the wall holding a chocolate bar with the phone up to his ear

Two days later I walk into the room and see Mello sitting against the wall holding a chocolate bar with the phone up to his ear. I sit down across from him and stare at him. He makes eye contact with me and I glare at him.

"What?" He mouths out to me. I roll my eyes. I haven't been able to say a single word since we started the whole never-hang-up-cell-phone deal with Mogi and Near. Mello has been sitting on his ass listening and putting in info as Near questions Mogi, and he still hasn't said anything. Matt came by once but left once he found out the circumstances. I didn't leave because I wanted to stay close to Mello. Great choice.

"What?" Mello mouths out to me again. I sigh.

"This is bullshit." I mumble.

"What was that?" Near asks from the other line. Mello glares at me then a helicopter zooms past the room we're in.

"What the fuck.." Mello says as he stands up and looks out the window. I do the same and gasp.

Kira worshipers, there are hundreds, if not thousands of them gathered all around Near's headquarters armed with anything that can be used as weapons.

"They're trapped!" I say to Mello as I watch in horror as the people ram the doors and try to break the glass.

"Mello, who's with you?" Near asks.

"Rowen." Mello says as he looks at me. Near doesn't say anything to Mello, but mumbles something to another person who is with him. Suddenly money starts to poor from the upper windows of the building.

"Damn.." I mumble.

"Mello..and Rowen. We're going to escape now, so I'm hanging up Mr. Mogi's cell phone." Near says to us. The phone line dies and I look at Mello.

"We should get out." I say to him. He looks at me and nods his head. We rush downstairs and tie bandana's around our mouths and put our sunglasses on.

"Try to grab as much money as you can before we escape." Mello says to me. I nod my head and we burst out along the crowd. He grabs my hand and pulls me along with him so we don't get separated. I jump and grab wads of one-hundred dollar bills as we charge through the crowd to where Mello parked his motorcycle. We finally reach the parking lot and we hop on Mello's motorcycle. We speed off as I turn and watch all of the chaos slowly fade behind us.

Mello stops in a parking garage down the street from our apartment and pulls me off of the motorcycle. He grabs my face and kisses me deeply. He pulls away from me and looks at me.

"What?" I ask him.

"How much did you grab?" He asks me. I hold out dozens of wads of money.

"I have no idea." I tell him. "But… we won't need anymore money for a while."

"Okay." Mello says to me. He looks around and pulls out his cell phone. "Matt, go watch the Kira riot at Near's place until it clears up. Rowen and I have to go get some stuff." He hangs up the phone and we get back on the motorcycle.

"I thought we were going to get things." I say to Mello as we walk into our apartment. He suddenly grabs me and drags me into the bedroom and throws me onto the bed. He brings his face close to mine and smirks at me. I smile at him and kiss his nose as he takes off his jacket. I take his sunglasses off and look into his blue eyes. I hold the left side of his face and look at his scars and his smirk turns into a frown.

"I'm hideous." He mumbles as he looks away from me.

"But you're not, you know that." I tell him. "You know they don't bother me."

"I hate them." He says to me. "You deserve someone better. Someone as beautiful as you…can never be with anyone like me."

"Shut up." I say to him as I sit up in bed as turn away from him. "You ruin 'the moment' like no other."

"Stop." He says to me as he wraps his arms around me. He kisses my neck and rests his head on my shoulder. "Matt… I'm going to tell him… how it's… more than it seems." I sigh and fall back on the bed next to Mello.

I look at him and smile and blow him a kiss.

"We're out of condoms anyway." I remind him.

"We're serious, we don't need them anyway." He tells me. I bite my lip and look up at the ceiling.

"Come on." Mello says to me as he gets back on top of me. He helps me pull off my jacket and he takes off his shirt. He leans down and kisses my forehead as he takes off my shirt. "If anything's gonna happen, then it's probably happened already."

I don't say anything and just smile and kiss his nose.

Matt walks into the apartment as I am hanging some stuff on the door. He smiles at me then Mello tells him that he wants to talk to him outside. After a few minutes they both walk back inside and Matt winks at me.

"I fucking knew it." He says to me. I smile at him and walk into the kitchen to make us dinner.

Two days later I'm laying down on the couch and Mello's phone begins to ring. He's in the shower and since he told me I'm allowed to, I answer his phone.

"Hello?" I say into the receiver.

"Who is this?" A woman's voice asks me.

"Who's this?" I say back to her. "You're the one who called the phone."

"Where's Mello?" The woman asks.

"Who is this?" I ask her. "I'm Mello's girlfriend, what do you need?"

"Oh…" The woman says. "I'm Hal, I work with Near. You probably saw me when you came by the headquarters. I wanted to tell Mello that one of our other members is going to be dropping off Mogi and Aizawa at the airport in about twenty minutes. That's all I had to tell him."

"Thank you!" I say to her as I snap the phone shut. "Matt, wake up!" I snap as I slap his arm and he jumps off the couch.

"What?!" He asks me.

"Two members of the task force are going to be at the airport in twenty minutes! We have to get there to tail them!" I say as I run into my room and start throwing all of my clothes into my suitcase. In less than a minute I'm done and I barge into the bathroom.

"Shower's over!" I say to Mello as I pull him from the shower and pass him a towel. I tell him what's going on as I throw all of our belongings into bags and he runs out of the room to pack all of his things with Matt. Within five minutes all of our belongings are packed, Mello's has his motorcycle scheduled to be flown back to LA, and we are outside throwing all of our belongings into Matt's car. I get in between them in the front seat and we speed off to the airport.

"There they are!" I say as I see Mogi and Aizawa standing in front of the airport.

"Alright." Mello says as we park the car. We all grab out bags and walk inside and I watch as Aizawa and Mogi get their plane tickets.

"If we follow them to their boarding area we'll be able to snag seats that are left empty." I say to them. "We may not be able to sit together, but we'll be on the same flight and we'll be able to track them better."

"Okay." Mello says. Since we only have a couple of bags we don't check anything in and purchase our spare seat tickets. We follow behind Mogi and Aizawa until we reach the boarding area then we sit down in a far corner away from them. Matt looks around and smirks and looks back at me.

"What?" I ask him. He nods his head in the direction of a store across from our boarding area.

"They sell pregnancy tests, you should go get one." He says to me.

"Oh wow." I say as I roll my eyes. "I'm not pregnant."

"You don't know that." Matt says to me. "I haven't seen any you-know-what's around the bathroom in a while."

"Shut up." I say to him as I lean back and stretch.

"You should go buy one." Mello says to me. I look at him. "Just to be sure."

"Boys worry too much." I say to him as I stand up and walk over to the store. I buy the stupid piss test and walk back over to Mello and Matt and sit back down.

"Aren't you going to take it?" Matt asks me.

"I never said that." I say to him. "Besides, we're getting on the plane."

We turn around and see everyone stand up and head towards the plane entrance.

After everyone boards Matt, Mello, and I slowly enter the plane. We are ordered where to sit and Mello and Matt are quickly taken to the back of the plane. A flight attendant takes me to my seat and I try to cover my face as much as possible when I see that I'm sitting next to Mogi and Aizawa. She sits me down and I quickly open up my bag and pull out a book and burry my face in it. The plane takes off and after about and hour of reading my stomach starts to hurt horribly. I look inside my purse and down the walkway and see that the bathrooms are empty. I stand up and head down the walkway and walk past Mello until I reach the bathroom and go inside.

"I'm not pregnant." I say to myself as I set the used pregnancy test down on the sink counter. I sit down on the toilet lid and sigh deeply. I look down at my hands and see them shaking violently. "I'm not pregnant."

Two minutes goes by and I bite my lip before I pick up the test. I close my eyes before looking at it and breathe through my gritted teeth, then I open my eyes.

A plus sign.

I stop breathing, I stop moving, and my eyes grow wide. The sounds outside the levorotary seem to mush together and I am unable to make out anything. Suddenly my hand begins to shake and my body follows them. My breathing quickens and I feel extremely hot.

"No…" I mumble. I look at the test and I feel a tear run down my face. I take a deep breath and shake myself. I toss the test in the garbage and stand up and walk out of the bathroom.

"Rowen…" Mello mumbles to me as I slowly walk past him. I take my seat next to Mogi and place my face in my hands.

"No, no, no…" I say to myself as tears drip down onto my tray. I bite my lip and close my eyes then I feel Mogi turn and face me.

"Are you okay?" He asks me. I look at him over my sunglasses and hope that he doesn't recognize me.

"I don't know." I say to him. Suddenly someone grabs my other shoulder. I turn around and see Mello with a brown wig on and his hair covering his burns.

"What's wrong?" He asks me.

"James, I'm pregnant." I whisper to him as tears run down my face. His eyes widen and his jaw drops. He looks down at the ground and gulps.

"Don't worry, Liz, it's okay." He tells me. He kisses my forehead and holds me close to him. I wrap my arms around him and silently cry then he pulls away from me. "I'm going to go talk to Robert, don't… don't worry. I'll… no matter what, we're together." I nod my head at him and he walks away and I lean back in my chair and cover my face with my hands.


	11. Chapter 11: Deal

Two days later I walk into the room and see Mello sitting against the wall holding a chocolate bar with the phone up to his ear

"Switch places with me." Aizawa says to Mogi. Aizawa sits in the seat next to me and I feel metal against my skin. I turn and see Aizawa pointing his gun at me.

"What are you…" I start.

"I know it's you." Aizawa whispers to me. "Why are you following us?"

"Aizawa, what are you doing?" Mogi whispers to him.

"You suspect Light too!" I say to him as I wipe tears from my cheeks. "You can't take me in, I'm following the same case as you!"

"Alice…" Mogi whispers. I look at him then back at Aizawa.

"I've suspected Light since I was brought into this. What I do now or who I work with does not concern you." I say to him.

"Mello killed the Deputy Director!" Aizawa says to me.

"One of the other mobsters did and you know that. You have no real proof that Mello's killed anyone." I say to him. "The only reason Light wants Mello brought into custody is so that he can kill him because he's Kira!"

"You can't prove that." Aizawa says to me. "Light's been with us this whole time…"

"You know that it's extremely possible." I say to him. "Mello has been doing everything he can to find Kira, he's even tested the rules of the notebook. The thirteen day rule is a fake, did you know? Because that makes Light's confinement a complete failure and waste of time."

"I…I know." Aizawa says to me. "I've been to see Near."

"There you go!" I say to him. "He trusts Mello and they hate each other! They are working together without being together and having to put up with each other because they both believe Kira to be in the task force." I stop talking for a minute. "…Join us."

"You know I can't do that." Aizawa says to me.

"But you can!" I whisper to him. "You can be the loop hole. Don't you understand? Near and his people, everyone who's with Mello, we can't get straight information about the case from Light like you can. If you help us we could catch Light even faster!"

"He may not be Kira!" Aizawa says to me. "You base all of your reasoning solely on that Light is Kira. He may not be! You don't even bother to check out what could prove him not to be Kira!"

"I was at Wammy House." I say to Aizawa. "I may have not been there for long, but I was there and I was well educated to be able to solve any type of case and catch any type of criminal. So has Mello, so has Near, so did L. And we all pointed our fingers in the same direction. At Light."

"You've never tried to prove his innocence." Aizawa says to me.

"L did." I say back to him. "L wanted Light to be innocent, he told me. He wanted him to not be Kira but the evidence pointed right towards him. It would do me no good to follow Light if I had a reason not to. It wouldn't do anyone any good."

"You're only doing this because you believe Light was the one who caused L's death." Aizawa says to me. "Wake up, Alice! There's no proof in that! You're only chasing Light because you were in love with L!"

"That's not true." I snarl at Aizawa. "Even if I was I'm not anymore. I chase justice and what I believe to be the truth and a tragedy as L has nothing to do with my motives. As a detective I cannot allow my feelings to get in the way of what's important. L taught me that, and you know that it's the truth."

"Alice…" Aizawa says to me. "Mello is a wanted man."

"And I am a wanted woman." I say back to him. "But you won't bring me in."

"What did you tell him." Aizawa asks me. "When he was here. You were crying and he looked worried."

"My feelings, and what happens to me, cannot and do not get in the way of what's important. The only thing that matters is capturing Kira." I tell him.

"You know if something's wrong you'll need to go to the doctors eventually, and they'll need your information." He tells me.

"This is so unprofessional of you." I say to him.

"If we're going to work together then I'll need to know what's wrong." Aizawa says to me. I look at him, as does Mogi. Aizawa turns to Mogi and they both nod their heads. "We will work with you, but you must let us in on everything."

"What about you? How much are you willing to let us know?" I ask him.

"As much as I can, but not all." Aizawa says to me.

"You cannot meet Mello, unless he is in disguise. I can meet with you when we need to exchange information or talk on the phone." I say to him.

"Fine." Aizawa says to me. "What did you tell Mello a couple minutes ago?"

"It doesn't pertain to the case…" I mumble.

"Tell me." Aizawa says to me. "You know you can trust me. Case or not, if it's bad it could disrupt the case."

"I'm pregnant." I say to him. "And it's Mello's."

"What?!" Aizawa says to me. "You're nineteen! What about…"

"The past is the past and this is now and my feelings have been different for some time." I say to Aizawa. "This makes no difference to the case."

"You being a part of this puts your child's life at risk!" Aizawa says to me. "If Kira kills you then your child will die as well!"

"A long time ago you were gonna quit for the sake of your family." I say to him. "You stayed with the case and you actually have a connection with your wife and daughter. I don't."

"I want to talk to Mello." Aizawa says to me. "Switch places with him now." The tone of Aizawa's voice scares me; I've never heard him to serious and angry before. I stand up and walk down the aisle and tell Mello everything. Mello walks over to Aizawa and Mogi and takes a seat.

"Mello." Aizawa says to him. "I do not know you personally but I know Alice and I refuse to have her or your child be hurt in this. Tell her to go into hiding. We've agreed to work with you and Near in secret but Alice can go back to Wammy House and hide there. I will not have her hurt."

"Mr. Aizawa." Mello says to him. "You've known Alice for six years, I've known her since she first arrived at Wammy House when she was five. Trust me when I say this, she won't leave."

"She will if you tell her too." Aizawa says. "She wasn't even in the running to become L's successor, you and Near were. Although she has indeed helped a lot she's not the one that L would have chosen."

"I don't believe that." Mello says. "Alice is just older than Near, she's younger than I am. And L called on her to help with the case. At Wammy House Alice was crazy about L, she idolized him, he was her biggest hero. Even though it seemed as if L treated Alice, Near, and I the same, she was his favorite. He was inspired by her. He told the others at Wammy House that she couldn't be his successor because she idolized him, but I believe the truth was that he didn't want her to be his successor because he was afraid of what would happen if they ever worked together because of him, not of her. Even after she left Wammy L watched closely after her. Watched her succeed, even though he had her grades altered so she wouldn't know how smart she really was. I believe he wanted her to take his place and he wanted her to capture Kira. She is vital to the case."

"L said that before." Aizawa says to him. "You truly believe that Alice was supposed to take L's place? You think she can do it?"

"I know she can do it." Mello says. "But… it's dangerous to have her in the front of the mission. You probably saw it when L was still alive. She hates the new L, Light Yagami, and she'd probably act out of anger and would probably try to take him out herself. I believe she realized that when L was killed, and that's why she left. She had more feelings than love for him, and she knew that he would have wanted her to leave before she got hurt."

"Well then what do we do?" Aizawa asks.

"I won't have her make any serious moves, but she'll still work with us." Mello says to him. "We'll just keep all of her actions minor so know one will be able to find out who she is."

"Alright." Aizawa says to him. "I just wanted to make everything clear with you."

"Okay." Mello says to him as he stands up. "Don't tell her about our decision to keep her low profile, she'll flip."

"Deal." Aizawa says to him. Mello nods his head and walks back over to where I am. I stand up and kiss his cheek and walk back over to my seat.

"What did you talk about?" I ask him.

"About how he better be good to you and your baby." Aizawa says to me. I halfway smile at him and look down at the tray.

"I'll buy you a new cell phone when we get back to L.A.." I tell him. "That way we can keep in touch without Light monitoring your calls."

"How did you…" Aizawa asks me.

"Common sense." I say back to him. "He doesn't trust any of you, and he's only doing that so you'll trust him and think he's not conspiring against all of you while he's on his phone. I do hope you know he's completely capable to writing things down on pieces of paper."

"We'll go with you to get the phone, neither of us will say anything." Aizawa says to me. I look over at Mogi and smile at him.

"Do you remember me well?" I ask him.

"I didn't have as good of a connection with you as the others." Mogi says to me. "Matsuda missed you so much when you left."

"Hah, I miss him too." I say as I lean back in my seat. "But…he completely trusts Light, doesn't he? I don't think we'd have the best conversations anymore."

"How do you know all of this?" Mogi asks me. Aizawa also looks at me with curiosity.

"Well," I start. "After you were kidnapped, Mogi, Aizawa and the other man came after you. Matsuda stayed with Kira." Aizawa and Mogi exchange weird glances at each other.

"Aizawa, did you choose to go?" I ask him.

"Well, it was all really up to us. Light suggested it and I was alright with it." Aizawa tells me.

"Uh huh." I say as to him. "So… was Matsuda's name ever brought up as someone to leave Light?"

"Not really." Aizawa says. "Come on, Alice, you know he's not the brightest person there is."

"Exactly." I say to him. "Someone who completely trusts Light stays behind. And not just that, it's someone who really isn't the all around brightest. Wouldn't surprise me if Light was free to move around as Kira while Matsuda… I dunno, napped, or used the bathroom or something."

"That's a little drastic." Aizawa says to me. "You really believe that Matsuda wouldn't have noticed if Light was up to something?"

"Do you?" I ask him. Aizawa doesn't say anything. "Forget it, none of that matters now. We'll be in contact with each other now so we'll be able to work twice as fast… to uncover the truth." Aizawa stares at me.

"Yes, the truth." He responds. I look at him and halfway smile. He smiles back at me and takes out a newspaper and begins to read. I yawn and lay back in my chair and slowly drift off to sleep.

I awake with a thud and I hear the airplane skid across the runway as we arrive back in Los Angeles. I lift my head up and realize that Aizawa had been my pillow for the duration of the flight. He smiles at me and puts his hand behind my head and ruffles my hair. I stick my tongue out at him and we wait to be let off the plane.

Our row is dismissed and Aizawa, Mogi, and I exit the plane and walk to retrieve our luggage. Matt and Mello join us shortly after in their disguises and I face Mogi and Aizawa along side them.

"I'll get you the phone soon so we can talk." I say to Aizawa. He nods his head at me and looks at Mello and Matt.

"Take good care of her." Aizawa says to them. "She's…like family to me. Don't let her get hurt." I bite my lip and almost feel my eyes water. Mello nods his head and Matt reply's with a 'Yep.'

"She means so much to me, I won't let her get hurt." Mello says to him. "You have my word on it."

"Thank you." Aizawa says. He then holds out his hand towards Mello. Mello takes it and shakes his hand.

"Right." Mello says to him. He lets go of Aizawa's hand and steps away from him. Aizawa picks up his bags with one hand and holds out his hand towards me. I take it, then I quickly wrap my arms around his waist and hug him. He holds my shoulders tight and kisses the top of my head gently, and then he pulls away.

"We'd better get back to headquarters." Aizawa says. Mogi nods his head and they both walk away from us. We watch them leave and I turn back to Matt and Mello.

"So what's the plan?" I ask them.


End file.
